Sunday October 18th, 2009 @ 3:25 PM

Hey, I had my lip pierced (16 gague) in early July and as I’m looking at new jewellry to buy, I’ve noticed that most of what I want is in 14 gague. I keep reading references to stretching the piercing, but nothing that says anything specific on HOW. Is there a page I’m missing, or what?

The size difference between a 16g and a 14g is only about half a milimeter, but can be tough to stretch depending on the jewelry you’re using.

A piercer would be able to gently slide a long insertion taper which will very gradually spread the piercing open to slide in a 14g instead of forcing a blunt 14g post straight through.
It’s quite easy to stretch and probably won’t cause you much, if any, discomfort.

Sunday October 18th, 2009 @ 2:34 PM

My question is in regards to my getting a piercing over, or else close by enough to cover, two diagonal beauty marks I have near my cheek/lip (picture attached).

First of all, I am not planning on getting this done ANYTIME soon: I’m too young to be making decisions like that right away. But, I am interested in maybe getting it done in the future.

I assume that they would have to be microdermals because of the location. I wanted to know if this would be completely out of the question, or if not, if there are any other options aside from microdermals.

Any advice or comments you may have are appreciated.

By the looks of it, you wouldn’t be able to have straight-through piercings like a monroe in those areas based on the oral anatomy alone.
I also don’t like surface anchors in place or oral piercings whatsoever. Too much movement, in my opinion and they end up leaving nice scars when they reject out.

Another issue is piercing through those beauty marks. As a rule, I don’t pierce through any abnomal tissue like moles. I’d double check with your doctor about the idea of piercing through them. If he/she doesn’t think it’s a great idea, there are other options for mole removal and laser treatment.

Saturday October 17th, 2009 @ 4:59 PM

I have two microdermals in my sternum right now and they’ve healed perfectly fine no problems at all :] but I’ve been wanting my cheeks done forever and have decided on getting them with dermals instead of bars. Since I can’t have them for work I was going to get them done without ends/tops. Is it possible to heal them this way ? Or will the skin grow back over the stem ?

Thanks !

First of all, I don’t like surface anchors instead of barbells for cheek piercings at ALL. I suggest you don’t do this.
Secondly, no. You won’t be able to have the anchors heal without ends. The ends on surface bars and surface anchors prevent the jewelery from sinking into the piercing wound and the tissue healing over them.

Monday October 5th, 2009 @ 8:48 PM

I got my lip pierced about, 4 days ago. I had a stud put in because I was going back home and if I showed up with a ring I knew I would never stop hearing about it from my parents. Everything has been going fine, except that the inside of my lip seems to be growing around the back plate of the stud. Also, when I push it inward there is a sore red circle on the inside where the plate is sitting. I’ve been using salt soaks about 3-4 times a day and washing the outside of the piercing with a anti-bacterial soap. There is no weird discharge, smells or heat coming from the piercing so I don’t think it’s infected. However, my lip is still a little swollen and if I run my tongue along the inside of it, there is stinging (obviously). I’m trying not to get paranoid but I’ve never had a piercing react like this. (I have my tongue and eyebrow also pierced.) Any idea what’s going on?

The obvious answer is that the bar is too short. In my opinion, it shouldn’t have been pierced with a ring to start with but faffing around with jewellery in a four day piercing is going to create excess swelling and irritation. If you keep it up, you will have the gnarliest piercing ever which will be certain to attract attention from your parents. Go to a piercer, have them fit an oversized labret stud in it, leave it in situ for a couple of weeks, go back to the piercer and have them switch it for a shorter, sterile stud and then give it another three to four months before fitting the ring.

Monday October 5th, 2009 @ 10:21 AM

i’ve had my monroe pierced for nearly 2.5 months now and it has healed well.

when i wear a short or long bar flat-back labret, all is well and perfectly normal.

but, after a day of comfort wearing a circular barbell instead, it hurts a loooot and it feels hard inside the fistula.

if i switch back to a labret, in under an hour it goes back to normal and all pain in gone.

i’ve worn this barbell in other piercings and have never had any sort of reaction to it.

why does this happen? i really want to be able to wear the barbell, i love the look of it.

Your piercing is not well enough healed to be switching jewellery. Leave the labret stud in for a good four months from the date of the initial piercing to give it time to heal adequately and then make sure you have the piercing measured to ensure you wear the correct size cirular barbell.

Monday October 5th, 2009 @ 10:09 AM

i got my lip pierced over about a month ago and the healing process has been ok.. but i have developed this small bump by my lip piercing its painless and it does not seem to be infected..also i clean it corectly sometimes it would shrink down to a smaller size but then get bigger when its irritated. i think its because one time my freind accidently hit my lip piercing and after that the bump developed..what is it and what should i do? also my lip piercin seems to be healing alot slower than my freinds

i just hope its nothing bad i really love my lip piercing and dont plan on taking it out:)

From the picture I’d say that the ring is too small. You can see the indentation in the top pf your lip. I am not a fan of piercing with rings from the onset. Initial piercings should be done with an oversized labret stud and downsized between two to three weeks later. If a ring is desired I would advise not having one fitted until four months after the initial piercing. Lip piercings take an average of four to six months to fully heal.

I would suggest you switch out your ring for a sterile labret stud as I’m pretty sure the hypertrophic scarring you are experiencing is a result of inappropriate jewellery perpetuated by the knock you recieved. Don’t use your friends as a benchmark for healing as there are alot of factors that influence the nature of such a process. Healing is a very individual thing.

Friday September 25th, 2009 @ 6:35 PM

I got a labret piecing a few months ago with a 14g stud, and let it heal completely. A few days ago I replaced it with a closed ring that fit nicely to my lip. However, I think my lip has swollen since changing the piercing, and now the ring is digging into the inside of my lip/pulling the hole up slightly. Should I be worried? Does the swelling tend to go down, or should I switch back to the stud?

Thanks.

I would switch back to the stud until the swelling subsides. Usually, I advise my clients to leave the bar in for around four months before switching to a ring. It is also important to get the correct size. Your piercer should be able to measure your lip. The length of the piercing and the distance from the hole to the top of the lip are what is needed and then the greatest of the two measurements should match the diameter of the jewellery. If your lip has been acting up, have the bar reprocessed before popping it in to avoid introducing nasties into the fistula.

Tuesday August 11th, 2009 @ 7:58 PM

Alright, I tend to be a little bit paranoid so please bear with me. I’ve waited for my lip piercing for the past 5 years and I just don’t want anything to go wrong. Alright I got my lip peirced five days ago now and the area around the peircing was a slightly red circle and it’s been a bit sore but I figured thats normal. The area around the peircing today seemed a bit darker red and very irritated. A friend of mine and my mom (who have no knowledge of peircings) said it looks like the beginning of an infection and it isn’t normal for the area still to be enflamed five days later. It really hasn’t been hurting me much but I have been touching it a lot so now it feels even more sore.. still nothing excruciating. I’ve been washing my mouth out with H2ocean and have been rubbing the same stuff Claire’s gave me when I got my ears pierced years ago (probably not the best idea). After being told that was a bad idea I’m now using antibacterial soap (Dial I believe). I probably wouldn’t have this concern but Im starting to get a low grade fever and feel naucous and I’m worrying they could be related… If someone could just help me out and tell me what they think it would be appreciated

Sounds to me more like irritation caused by two things. Primarily the stuff you have been cleaning your piercing with (switch to twice daily seasalt soaks - how to correctly do this can be found on this site with a quick search) and also touching the piercing. This is a total no-no as the potential to introduce bacteria from dirty fingers is there (other than the fact that touching the piercing will disturb the jewellery and irritate the wound). Other symptoms of infection include pain (an infected wound is really painful), discharge that can be a yellowy-brown colour sometimes streaked with blood and often foul-smelling and swelling. I believe it is always better to err on the side of caution so if you are concerned, a quick trip to the docs won’t kill you. If they do diagnose infection and prescribe antibiotics, be sure to leave the jewellery in, at least until the infect has cleared (should you decide to retire it).

Monday August 10th, 2009 @ 7:03 PM

I got my monroe pierced last Thursday. I know the swelling and redness and pain are normal, but today, I noticed that the actual ball on my stud was sinking into my lip. I can pop it out, but it quickly sinks back into the nice little hole it has made. It’s in there so far that when I run my hand across it, the ball is flush against my lip. Is the bar too short for my swollen lip? I’m planning on calling my piercer tomorrow and getting his advice, but until then, I am uncomfortable to the point where I can’t sleep. I’ve been icing it and cleaning it frequently, all of which provide immediate but brief comfort.

Sounds like the jewelry is definitely too short.
While we do pierce with longer jewelry in most oral piercings, it’s impossible to know exactly how much a client will swell up.
See your piercer and they should be able to fit you with a longer post until the swelling comes back down.

In the meantime, remember to keep yourself well hydrated as that will help decrease the swelling a bit.

Monday August 10th, 2009 @ 4:56 PM

I saw a picture of someone with a volcano on their madonna BUT it was because they were taking it out and putting it back in. I want to get one but I wanted to know if you can get that even with providing proper aftercare. Can you also get a keloid even with providing proper aftercare?